


The Evolution of Harleen Quinzel

by GothamRogue81



Category: Arkham Asylum (Comics), Batfamily - Fandom, Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics), Harley Quinn (Comics)
Genre: Bat Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-17
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-05-02 03:21:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5231987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothamRogue81/pseuds/GothamRogue81
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So I scrapped my original idea of making one long story and decided that one set of stories will feature my favorite character Harley Quinn.  From "Precotious Intern" to Anti-Hero, she's had a lot of development over the years and has certainly come a long way from a cartoon sidekick created specifically for the greatest animated television show of all time, to having her own comic series as well as finally making it to the Big Screen in "Suicide Squad".</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Preocious Intern

**Author's Note:**

> So after The Dark Knight came out, and there was talk of a third movie in the Nolan-verse, I had an idea of what I pictured happening after the events of the second film. While I was going to focus on Batman being a fugitive in Gotham, having been blamed for the death of Harvey Dent, I nixed that and kept the Dent coverup relevant but decided to go somewhere else with Batman himself in the aftermath. 
> 
> My story does not take place in the Nolan-verse. The only thing I kept was the idea that The Joker started something in Gotham and had corrupted Harvey Dent. Having said that this first chapter introduces some of those who reside at the infamous Arkham Asylum and set the strage for the biggest battle that Batman will have to face. I intend to have each chapter focus on a different character as we progress.
> 
> Over the course of the story, the timeline will be put together to explain what happened and when. Obviously there are a lot of members of the "BatFamily" and there is a lot of ground to cover. There are things that will be in line with canon, and other things that I am taking liberties with, including some origins or personalites. There are things I've loved about each character and there are things that I don't like as much and have either revamped or done away with all together. Some people might not like directions I take some characters. Others might love it. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1: The Precocious Intern

                Commissioner Gordon made a statement the night Harvey Dent was killed. Dent had been a pillar of the community, and a beacon of hope for Gotham. The city had been under siege for decades, overrun with organized crime and Dent had begun to wage war against them to take back the city for its citizens. But unbeknownst to them, The Joker had used Dent as a pawn in his demented game against The Batman, and after Dent suffered through his own personal hell, he emerged a broken man turned into the very thing he was fighting against.

                After the fatal fall, Batman and Gordon covered up the incident to shield the truth of what had become of Gotham’s White Knight. They felt that if the citizens of Gotham found out that this man they had put their faith in had been corrupted, then any hope of their city rising from darkness would be useless.  The city would never know about the existence of “Two-Face”.

                The dream of Harvey Dent lived on with the passing of the Dent Act. The Mayor and Commissioner Gordon pushed the congressional act which effectively removed loopholes that criminal organizations had used to slip from the grasps of the law, pre-trial, as well as post incarceration.

                Over the next couple years, Batman had faced many adversaries. The Joker had started something. As the organized crime in Gotham lowered, new faces emerged. The bad guys were forced to up their game.  With the dangerous nature of these enemies, Arkham Asylum began to gain inhabitants.

The majority of its criminals were re-evaluated and sent to Blackgate Penitentiary after diagnosed as sane. The asylum would only house criminals truly diagnosed as insane. It would also serve as a great teaching tool to students. With the Dent act passed, the field of Criminology had received a surge of interest. The fear stricken by organized crime’s hold over Gotham had subsided. Criminals could be prosecuted without as much fear of retaliation towards officers and officials, and with the need for new, fresh and un-tainted officers at an all-time high, Metropolis University’s Department of Criminal Psychology partnered with Arkham Asylum to continue to grow the field.

                Dr. Joan Leland was put in charge of interns sent from Metropolis U, and oversaw their progress and lessons while at the Asylum. Students in the program were ambitious and hopeful. Everyone wanted to make Gotham a better place. The fame, or infamy of the inmates sometimes got the better of them, however.

                With the majority of the inmates of Arkham having been transferred to Blackgate, it left only the truly warped and psychotic minds behind whose dockets were enough to make some students salivate. These criminals were kept in a separate wing. Deep in the darkest parts of Arkham was a row of cells that housed the more outlandish inmates who were the talk of the dormitory that housed the interns. They dubbed it “Looney Row” and while some made jokes and poked fun at these inmates, one girl was completely captivated by them.

                Harlene Quinzelle was one of the many Metropolis University students who found themselves lucky enough to have received an internship to Arkham.. Upon first look, one might not know that she boasted an extremely high IQ, and was here finishing up her Doctorate while most of the other students her age were finishing their Master’s degree. She looked more like a ditzy cheerleader than an aspiring doctor, but Dr. Leland was a great admirer of her. Not only was Harley female but she took the work here at the asylum seriously. She was motivated, driven and determined to learn as much as she could from her experiences at Arkham.

                “Looney Row” was a coveted spot amongst the more serious students in the internship. To make rounds with Dr. Leland and Dr. Young, the chief researcher at Arkham, was a great honor. Not only would the student be learning a great deal of knowledge and insight into the truly dark minds of these would-be-celebrity criminals, but those who did well under the two female doctors were almost guaranteed a job right out of graduation.

                When it came time to choose the interns suitable, Harley was at the top of the list. She stood anxiously awaiting the official tour beside two other students, playing with her fingers behind her back. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stay still. She smiled wide when the security door of the Maximum Security Wing opened and Dr. Penelope Young stood waiting with a clipboard in hand.

                “Welcome to the Maximum Security Wing of Arkham,” she said, looking the three students over. “August Bartlett?” she said looking up from her clipboard at the first boy. He was a skinny young man with thick rimmed glasses and light brown hair, parted down the middle. The boy nodded and Dr. Young moved down the line to the next boy. “And you’re Drew Shaw?”

                “Yes, Doctor,” the boy in the middle replied with an Indian accent. He looked past Dr. Young as she moved, looking down the corridor with an excited smile on his face.

                She stopped in front of the petite blonde. “And that must make you Harlene Quinzelle,” she said with a smile. “I’ve heard good things about you from Dr. Leland.”

                The compliment made her smile. “Thank you Dr. Young, and you can call me Harley,” she replied, standing at attention like a soldier, but making eye contact with the older woman.

                Dr. Young stepped back into the doorway and looked at the three. “As you’re aware, behind this doorway, we house the most violent and psychologically impaired inmates at the asylum. These convicts have been diagnosed with a number of psychological problems, and have also committed heinous crimes,” she began. “There are rules to be followed if you are to remain a part of our team down here. No one is to speak of what and who you see down here. You all signed confidentiality agreements before coming to Arkham for your internships, and there is no greater threat of security than the Maximum Security Wing.”

                The students nodded in agreement, and she continued, “You are not to speak to the inmates. They may taunt you. They may insult you. They may ask you questions. You are to ignore them and follow your instructor’s instructions the entire time you are in the presence of the inmates. Don’t let them get under your skin, and more importantly, don’t let them get into your head.”

                Jason’s eyes widened slightly, and he swallowed hard listening to the words. “And most important of all,” Dr. Young continued, “None of you are to ever be in here alone. Your security cards will work getting into the main hall, but they won’t get you anywhere else once behind these doors. However, you are still not to come down here alone under any circumstance. You must always be accompanied by myself, Dr. Leland, or one of the other maximum security doctors.”

                The students nodded and Dr. Young smiled. “Well, now that that’s out of the way, let’s start the tour.” She turned and the students followed her into the wing. The door closed automatically behind them and Harley could hear the locks activate beneath their steel shell.

                The hallway was long and narrow. There were several massive steel doors along the left hand side. Each had a latch in the center which was key locked. Along the wall next to the cell was a display screen. The screen was a security camera image of the cell on the other side of the door. Above the screen was a name plate. The first cell was labeled “Oswald Cobblepot”.

                “The Penguin? What’s he doing in Arkham?” asked Drew. “I thought he was just an old school gangster trying to hold on to the old days of the crime bosses and gangs?”

                “No Mr. Shaw, that isn’t true at all,” she said. “Oswald is not just a simple gangster. And his physical appearance is not what makes him the creature that the tabloids would have you believe,” she began. On the screen beside the door, they could see the man known as “The Penguin” sitting at a small writing desk. He was a bald man, short in stature with a small curved pointy nose. He sat reading a newspaper, leaning in every now and again holding his monocle and squinting at the words before him.

                “Mr. Cobblepot suffered severe physical and emotional abuse as a child.   He was bullied and beaten by his classmates until his over-protective mother took him out and began to home school him,” she continued. The students listened intently to the background. “Cobblepot was a shut in, studying early in the morning and late into the evening. He’s remarkably intelligent, but deeply disturbed. After his mother’s death, his natural defenses kicked in and he learned to fight to survive. He turned to crime and the underground world.”

                To say Oswald was a criminal mastermind would be an overstatement, but The Penguin was tough. He had used his connections to place him in a powerful spot, gaining favor of several Gotham crime syndicates. He wouldn’t have been in the cell he sat in currently if he hadn’t been betrayed by one of those organizations. The Batman and his former ward, Nightwing had taken him in after having been set up, and now he was forced to begrudgingly take part in psychoanalysis.

                On the screen, Cobblepot’s head slowly raised from newspaper. He looked up at the camera on the ceiling and snarled at it. The students shuddered, all except for Harley. As the boys followed Dr. Young past the cell, she watched the screen intently, her eyes welling up as she watched Oswald turn back to his newspaper. She looked over at the group and scurried over to join them at the next cell.

                On the screen a short man stood pacing his cell. They watched as his mouth moved and his eyed darted all around. He was talking to himself, flinching and twitching as he babbled. “Jervis Tetch, known to the tabloids as The Mad Hatter,” she said.

                “The pedophile who kidnapped the Littleton girl?” asked Jason.

                “The same, but I think you’ll find in your time here that Jervis is not a pedophile actually. There are no sexual feelings towards children in that man’s mind, because while he is extremely intelligent when it comes to science and technology, Mr. Tetch’s psyche is that of a child himself. He is stuck in a fantasy world. It’s actually quite ironic that the Gazette labeled him The Mad Hatter, when he’s more like Peter Pan than anything,” she explained.

                Months ago, Jervis Tetch had kidnapped a child that lived in his apartment building. He had become obsessed with her and when the police found them, they were having a tea party and surrounded by stuffed animals. The girl was safe, but Tetch flew into a rage when the police arrived. He severely injured one officer and escaped.

                He was still obsessed with the girl, however, and began to use his technological abilities to find the girl and remove the obstacles between the two. The obsession lead to the death of her teacher and attempted murder of her parents, until an anonymous person intervened and left him bound in front of the Gotham Police Department.

                In the next cell, sat the skinny young man all three students recognized immediately as Dr. Jonathan Crane, The Scarecrow. “I’m sure you know Arkham’s former administrator. Dr. Crane was once thought to be a brilliant man, but his time here was a façade for his own personal experiements,” she said.

                “After Arkham’s siege Dr. Crane adopted his creation The Scarecrow and took it to new levels. After a series of fear gas based attacks, he was finally brought down…”she continued.

                “By Batman!” Jason interrupted.

                “Yes,” she said. “Who also took down our last guest,” she said as she continued on. “The man who needs no introduction,” she said as they looked at the screen. The room was dark. In the corner of the room, from out of the shadows, a pair of bare feet peaked out. They jutted out of the darkness as The Joker sat against the wall. The boys stood close to the monitor, trying to get a better look and make out his features, but they could not.

                “The theatric criminals we see in the papers and on the news are in large part due to him. He brought chaos to Gotham,” she said. “While others show great promise of rehabilitation, The Joker seems to be a hopeless case.”

                Harley looked into monitor. In the darkness she could see The Joker’s smile and his eyes staring back at her. She was filled with wonder and amazement as she gazed. Her gaze was so deep that she didn’t hear the group walk back towards the exit, or hear Dr. Young’s voice call out for her to come along.

                She was suddenly jerked out of her daze when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped and turned to see Dr. Young behind her.   “Miss Quinzelle, let’s go,” she repeated.

                The rest of the day passed quickly. Paperwork and discussions all blurred in her mind, but the only constant was him. Harley heard Dr. Young in her mind, telling them that he was a hopeless case. She shook her head softly to herself. She couldn’t see him being hopeless. He was a puzzle. She wanted to solve him. She wanted to find out what really made the Clown Prince tick. No one could simply run on chaos, could they?

                The first session Harley was able to view was Jervis Tetch. Dr. Leland sat across from him in the session room. The room itself was large, square and practically empty. Dr. Leland and Harley sat on one side of a table, and Jervis sat in a chair across from them. Behind him at the doorway stood a dark haired guard. He was stern and angry looking, and the name on his badge read Bolton.

                Bolton was the only guard in the room, which at first made Harley nervous, but as the interview went on, she realized that she wasn’t in any danger at the moment. Dr. Leland spoke, “Jervis, why do you think little Connie,” she started. He didn’t answer her. He twiddled his thumbs and his nose twitched, as she continued to prod him. “Jervis! Please answer me. Why do you think…”She said and then folded her hands neatly on the table as Harley looked on. “Hatter,” she said and he looked up at her. “Why do you think Connie hasn’t...,”

                “Alice!” Jervis snapped. “My Alice!” he slammed his hands on the table. Harley jumped, and Bolton stepped forward but Dr. Leland waved him back.

                “Yes Hatter, Alice…, why do you think Alice hasn’t visited you here?” she asked softly.

                He looked up at her with bewilderment. He looked up in the air and around, and then back at her. It was as if until now, he hadn’t realized that she hadn’t come to see him. Harley could see his heart break. “She must be lost. She can’t find the looking glass. That’s why I need to leave here. I have to get out of Wonderland and help her find her way back!” he whimpered.

                His eyes were sad and lost. Harley knew he really did believe what he was saying. He didn’t know who Connie Littleton was. He only knew Alice, and he thought he was in some dark part of Wonderland being kept away from her. She felt sorry for him.

                “Mr. Tetch, this is NOT Wonderland. You’re in Arkham Asylum. In Gotham City, and she’s not here because she doesn’t want to be, Jervis. You kidnapped her, and held her against her will, away from her parents,” she said calmly.

                He shook his head. “No. She’s lost, and you, you must by a spy for the Queen! She’s my Alice, and I’ve got to keep her safe from the rest of you!” he said. He lashed out, but the chains that linked him to the floor below held him back and Dr. Leland didn’t flinch.

                She leaned forward. “Jervis, you will never get out of here until you admit the truth of who you are and what you’ve done.”

                Jervis hung his head and sobbed. The wind had left his sails and he looked completely lost as he stared at the table. In a way, Quinn felt sorry for him.

                The rest of the day was slow moving. Harley watched the clock as it ticked away. In the main wing of Arkham, she helped administer the daily medications to lower security inmates. She still had two hours left to her shift at the asylum, but she couldn’t get her mind off the maximum security inmates.

Shortly after, she sat thumbing through patient files. As she perused, she was suddenly struck with curiosity. A manila folder had caught her attention. Along the tab, was the name “PATIENT ZERO”. She looked around her as she slid against the file cabinet behind her, sitting Indian-style on the ground. There were no pictures, but she was able to make out some of the doctors notes on the patient.

“Burns on face could possibly be permanent.   Plastic surgery may not be an option due to…,” it trailed off.

There were notes on a handful of, what sounded like, horrendous burns on the patient’s body. Beneath the burn descriptions, was a list of medications assigned to the patient. Her eyes widened as she looked at one listed. Propofol fentanyl midazolam. This patient was being kept in a coma. She scratched her head as she read it. She hadn’t seen any patients of the asylum in a coma. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered what reason they’d have for keeping someone in a coma, or why they’d keep it hidden from the rest of the asylum.

A noise down the hall startled her, and she scrambled to her feet, shoving the folder back into the drawer she found it. She snuck out of the room and ran down the hall, almost colliding with Dr. Leland as she rounded the corner.

                “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry Dr. Leland!” she exclaimed as she regained her composure.

                “It’s alright,” the doctor replied. “Are you ok?” Harley nodded quickly. “I meant to check on you earlier. How are you feeling after our little talk with Mr. Tetch? Any questions or comments?”

                Harley shook her head. “It was intense,” she said. “He’s not what I expected.”

                Dr. Leland smiled. “The tabloids don’t always portray every angle of the story behind these people. They fail to capture the true depth of the inmates,” she said. “They’d rather have something sellable.”

                “What about The Joker?” Harley blurted out. She immediately regretted it, but was surprised at Dr. Leland’s calm response, half expecting her to be angry about her asking about him.

                “There’s nothing but cold and darkness inside that man. He’s chaos incarnate,” she said. “He’s non-responsive to our attempts at questioning him. When he does respond, it’s with a sarcastic retort, or insult.” She paused. She could see Harley’s intrigue on the subject. “He captivates you, doesn’t he? That’s understandable. We’re all captivated by him. When you can’t psychologically dissect a patient that you should be able to, it certainly weighs heavy in your mind.”

                “How did he end up here? I mean, I know Batman took him in, but where did he slip up to give the Bat his chance?” she asked. Joker was relatively new to the Asylum. He was Gotham’s celebrity psychopath. After the awe the patients of Arkham demonstrated as he arrived, the doctors and guards counted themselves this was an asylum and not a regular prison. In a regular prison, he could have started a riot, but here at Arkham he only brought intrigue and mystique, to patients and staff alike.

                Dr. Leland wasn’t sure she should encourage her. She could tell the intelligent young girl was fascinated by Arkham and its inhabitants, but she didn’t know how impressionable she might be or how dangerous it would be to fuel her curiosity. “In a way, I think he wanted to be caught,” Dr. Leland finally said.

                “Why would he want to be caught?” Harley asked. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

                Dr. Leland laughed. “That’s the point, isn’t it? Nothing the man does makes any sense. That’s the problem with him, there’s no rhyme or reason. He is chaos personified,” she explained. “From what I’ve heard, Batman tracked him to a factory in the Bowery. He had several hostages and bombs planted throughout the building.”

                Quinn listened intently as Dr. Leland recounted what she had heard from various officers and socialites. “Needless to say, The Batman showed up and saved the day, but there are witnesses who claim he fought the Bat hard and was surprisingly tough, taking quite a few shots and still managing to stay lucid, but in keeping with his odd and peculiar persona, he was laughing, the entire time, spewing off jokes to Batman as they fought,” she said.

                “He was laughing?” Harley asked.

                “The entire time the Batman was beating him down,” Leland replied. “You should see the medical report from his intake! When he was brought in, escorted personally by Batman mind you, he had suffered a broken jaw, fractured shoulder and collar bone, several broken ribs, and he had several bruised organs that we were shocked hadn’t ruptured.”

                “How does someone live like that? Is he a meta-human?” Quinn asked.

                Dr. Leland laughed. “You would think so, the way he can absorb that much physical pain and still maintain his consciousness and faculties. But his results on the Giffen-Mantlo meta-spectrum were negative for metagenes. So we thought maybe Venom or Miraclo, but he tested negative for those as well,” she explained.

                Quinn looked puzzled. “So what does he have in him?”

                Dr. Leland looked at her, her smile shifting to a serious look. “Madness, Harlene,” she said. “It courses through his veins. He’s fueled by chaos. He is consumed by darkness. He is one of those truly evil people So I urge you Miss Quinnzelle, do not get too close to him. He may be intriguing but he is extremely dangerous! In this situation, curiosity could literally kill the cat, if you get my drift.”

                She nodded and she turned leaving for the day. Harlene may have come home after work to her small apartment on the Upper Eastside of Gotham, but her mind was still back at Arkham. For several hours, she let her phone go to voicemail while she combed online articles on the inmates of Arkham, particularly The Joker. She sat enthralled with only the sound of the television to keep her grounded in the real world.

                In seven months, The Joker had claimed the lives of thirty-nine people, including two police officers, a priest, a school superintendent and a newlywed couple on a layover in Gotham on their way to Santa Prisca for their honeymoon. The tabloids were calling him the “Clown Prince of Crime”. There was speculation on who he was and what his motivations were.

                As she read other articles, she saw that Gotham had been very familiar with over-the-top criminals. They were practically a dime a dozen. Each of them with their own intricate reasons for doing the things they did, reasons she was sure she would find out during her residency at Arkham. He, however, was different. No one seemed to know who he was or where he came from, and while he had been in Arkham for two weeks, he had not given a straight answer to anyone who questioned him.

                The police, the District Attorney’s office, even Commissioner Gordon had all been in to see him to try and interrogate him, but he laughed in their faces and ran them around in circles like horses on a racetrack. He had injured a nurse and caused one staff doctor to have a mental breakdown, so in truth, Dr. Leland wasn’t wrong in warning Quinn to stay away.

                That night she fought to get to sleep and when she finally did, he was there. His dingy green hair, his pale skin and that wicked grin, smirking at her through a cell door. But she wasn’t scared, and she opened the door. She walked closer towards him and he grabbed her, twisting her in his arms and raising a blade to her throat. The door slammed and several guards tried to get it open to get to her, but it was locked. She watched their eyes widen as he held the sharp weapon against her skin. She breathed heavily as she felt his breath against her cheek. As he pressed the blade deep and whipped his arm outwards, drawing it through her throat, she jolted awake.

                She sat up straight, catching her breath, running her hands through her damp blonde hair. Her eyes darted around the dark room as reality began to sink in and she regained consciousness. And then she felt a wash of shame, guilt and shock as she reached down to the sheet bunched up at her waist and swept it to the side of her thigh. The fragrant smell of herself hit her nose and she realized she was wet.


	2. Show & Tell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first one-on-one between The Joker and Harlene.

“Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?” Harley was nervous, he could see it, but she tried hard to keep her composure. It had taken weeks of proving herself to Dr. Leland and earn the privilege of sitting down one on one with The Joker. 

He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against the glass of the containment cell. “Getting right to it huh?” He asked. “What do you wanna know Doc? How I got these scars?”

She gave a puzzled look, as there were no visible scars on him. “Scars?”

He shook his head. “Nevermind…” he said. “I tell you what, I’ll answer whatever questions you have, but it’s a give and take relationship around here Harl…That’s what all these doctors don’t understand,”

She raised a brow. “They warned me about this,” she said. “I’m not giving you any personal information about myself Mr….Joker.”

He laughed. “Oh come on! You gotta give to get in this town baby! Everyone knows that!” he cackled. He paused for a moment, looking her up and down. Despite popular belief, he WAS still just human, and he had to admit she was certainly attractive. “Fine…no deep dark secrets…yet,” he said. “I’ll show you my mind if you show me your….assetts…”

She scoffed, disgusted, and turned to leave. “No! No, no…come back. I’m sorry. That was rude of me,” he said. She turned and looked over her shoulder at him, glaring. “Come on…come back. I said I was sorry….and I can’t even begin to remember the last time I said that to someone!”

She hesitated, but walked back towards him. He leaned against the glass on his forearms, looking down at her and licking his yellowish teeth. “So the beginning huh?”

She nodded. “I’d like to know who you were…before all this, “she said.

“Who’s to say there was anything before all of this?” he asked.

“You had to have been a child once,” she said. “Let’s start there. Where did you grow up?” 

“Why, I haven’t grown up! Don’t you know that?” he asked, falling back away from the glass and spinning around, laughing.

She stood with her arms crossed glaring at him. He sulked like a child and trodded back to the glass. “If you’re not going to take this seriously, then I’m leaving,” she said.

He got serious in an instant, like flicking a switch. “What do you think this is going to do? Do you think talking about my childhood and unfolding the mystery of who I am is going to cure me? There is no cure sugar lips…I’m damaged goods, and there’s not enough Gorilla Glue in the world to put ME back together!” 

“Fine,” she said. “I don’t care about trying to fix you. I just want to know.” At first he thought it was a charade to get him to talk, but then he saw the look in her eye. There was a fire that the other doctors lacked. This girl may be a little damaged herself. 

“I was born at Elliot Hospital. I don’t know what day or year, so that can tell you something right there, can’t it?”

“How do you know it was Elliot Hospital?” she asked, sitting down in the chair provided.

Because the blanket they swaddled me in had the E.H. logo on it,” he said. “Your turn blondie,” he snarled, planting both hands on the glass and looking down at her. “What’s the last album you bought?” 

She paused. It was an odd question. If he was going to start trading questions and answers with her, he expected him to pry into her life: Childhood, Boyfriend, Bra-Size. This wasn’t like him, according to the other doctors. “Black Veil Brides…,” she said. 

“Ooo.…interesting! Very Interesting!” he rubbed his chin quizzically. 

“What was the first crime you committed?” she asked. It made him smile. He thought she’d try and ask about family.

“You’ve got a dark side, don’t you?” he snickered. “First crime or first kill? Hell..I’ll give you both,” he said, plopping down in front of her on the other side of the glass, sitting Indian-style. “I hijacked a car when I was just a wee lad, went on a joyride and after I had my fun, I slashed the throat of the old lady I stole it from, for good measure!”  
She pursed her lips, a little uneasy at the mental image. He laughed and popped back up to his feet. “Wow! This whole nostalgia thing…it’s really fun! I guess I hadn’t thought about this stuff in so long, I’d nearly forgotten the pleasures of life!”

“To each their own,” she said, writing notes on the pad she brought in with her.

He spun around and pointed. “Oh, that means it’s your turn!” he clapped and cackled. It was enough to give a child nightmares, but Harley just sat there watching him.

“Hmm…Let me think of a good one!” he scratched his head. “Any tattoos, piercings, things of that nature?” He intertwined his fingers and licked his lips.

“Three diamonds on my thigh. Matches my two best friends from college, and a piercing,” she said matter-of-factly, pointing at her midsection, indicating a belly button ring was beneath her work clothes. “Have you ever cried?”

He smiled silently. “I’m human Doctor Quinnzelle. If you prick me, do I not bleed?” She smirked briefly, and then shook it off, waiting for his next question. “Boyfriend or Girlfriend?”

“She rolled her eyes. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m single,” she said. “And you? Have you ever been intimate with anyone?”

He laughed. “Intimate? If you’re asking if I’ve ever fucked someone, the answer’s yes. Again…I’m only human. We have needs! HA HA HA HA!” he laughed maniacally. “Now, the lovey dovey stuff…not so much,” he said.

“Because you’re incapable of love? Or trust?” she asked. 

He silently smiled at her, pondering some wicked way to answer that, but as he stared at her, he found himself answering back, “Probably.” When he heard himself say it, he switched back to the theatrics, twiddling his thumbs and widening his eyes. “Why don’t we turn the heat up in here? Double Jeopardy round!” he squealed. He paced back and forth and finally turned his head towards her. “What are your thoughts…,” he began. His eyes went narrow as he continued. “on the Batman?” he asked. 

She raised a brow. She wasn’t expecting that. She bit her lower lip and thought about it. She hadn’t really given it thought before. “I think he’s got to be at least half as crazy as you are, for starters.”

That made him laugh. He was honestly enjoying this. She wasn’t like the uptight doctors asking the same questions, trying to break him or explain him. She seemed to want to know him. She didn’t appear too frightened by him, granted he was sure that would change in time.

“The Batman is a man, just like you. He puts on an image of what he wants to look like to the rest of the world, and he chooses to bend and break rules. He has appointed himself a guardian and protector over a city, who may not welcome him entirely. You do the same. You’ve appointed yourself to be,” she paused to look down at the notes, “an Agent of Chaos. The city certainly hasn’t welcomed you, but you feel the need to shake it up and stir it up. You both operate outside the law. You’re polar opposites, and yet identical in ways.” 

She was getting close to saying it. He could feel it. He twitched with anticipation. She was going to say exactly what he wanted to hear her say. She took off her glasses and looked up at him. “I think you need each other.”

He clapped and smiled ear to ear. “Bravo Doc,” he said. “You hit the nail on the head.” He turned and stood in front of her plain. His body was calm, no jittering or twitching. He looked into her eyes. “I bet you don’t know Arkham’s big secret yet, do you?” he said.

She rolled her eyes. “What, about Amadeus Arkham?” she asked.

He laughed. “No. I mean the current secret. What they’ve got hidden in here with all of us.” He said.

Her interest was piqued. “What are you talking about?” she asked. Behind her a buzzer went off and a guard came in. “Doctor Quinnzelle. Session is up. He’s gotta go back down,” the guard said, placing his hand on his the tranquilizer gun on his hip.

She stood up, gathering her things. “I’m sorry Mr. Joker…we’ll have to continue this next time. I’d definitely like to talk more about this,” she said as the guard put his hand on her back and escorted her towards the door. 

“Lies Doc! The ‘Great White Lie of the Great White Knight’!” he shouted as she left. “And you can call me Mr. J. No need to be formal!” He cackled as the door closed. 

When the large metal door had locked behind her, she let out a deep breath. It was over. Her first session with the infamous Joker had been relatively successful. She knew she had reached through to him a little, and she made it out without being tricked or manipulated life everyone warned about. Or so she thought.


	3. The Great White Lie of the Great White Knight

Months had gone by since Harleen Quinzelle had begun her residency at Arkham Asylum. She had been offered a permanent staff position, and she had earned fame amongst the other doctors as the only one to break through to him. Their sessions were getting longer and Harleen felt she had really built trust between herself and the Clown Prince of Crime.  
They sat across from each other somewhat casually, as if they were old friends having a chat, rather than a doctor and mental patient having a session. “How’s that guard treating you?”

“Oh, Eddie?” she asked. She shook her head, “He still makes the comments. Tells me how he wants to get me alone in a maintenance closet or in the staff showers.”

Joker gritted his teeth angrily and then smiled at her. She felt his hand take hers and she nervously looked around to make sure no one saw him. “Harley, you are a beautiful and intelligent woman. You’re not a piece of meat. You’re the only one in this whole place that is running on a full tank of gas, and they’re all beneath you!”

She was a little taken aback. She smiled and thanked him. “Mr. Joker,” she said, leaning forward. “When we first met, you mentioned the lie about the White Knight. I’d like to finally discuss that with you.”

“Oh NOW she wants to know about it!” Joker howled. “Well, Harl, what do you think I meant by it?”

“Something to do with Dent I’d imagine,” she said.

“Smart girl,” he said. “This city thinks he’s the greatest thing since sliced throats. Well they’re wrong angel-cakes. And I have proof,” he said.

“Harvey Dent died protecting Commissioner Gordon and his family from Sal Maroni,” she said recalling the tale that had been told on television and radio about the hostage situation that had set into motion the creation of the Harvey Dent Act that discarded the miles of red table preventing the authorities from taking down the many organized crime families that operated in Gotham City.

“For someone so intelligent Doc, you’re pretty dumb!” he said laughing. “That’s what they wanted people to believe. Sal Maroni wasn’t even involved! Harvey Dent had a little mishap that I may or may not have been the cause of, and after his little accident, poor Dent became the Big Bad Harvey that I know and love!”

She listened intently as he spilled his story. Dent blaming Batman for the loss of his fiancée Rachel Dawes in the explosion that had caused him to be burned and disfigured, and how Dent snapped and went after the people responsible, including two corrupt police officers that Joker had paid off. “I am a vessel for the gods of Chaos and I made Harvey Dent a vessel for the gods of Chance!” 

“If that’s true, why would the police and city hall praise him as a hero?” she asked.

“Their ruse gave Gotham hope. False hope, but hope nonetheless! So they tell the city he died a hero and he lives on in their hearts and memories as this tough on crime pretty boy,” he said. “But let me tell you, he ain’t so pretty anymore!” he cracked up laughing.

“You mean he wasn’t pretty in the end? After the accident you talked about?” she asked.

“No…now. IS ugly! ISN’T pretty! If you don’t believe me, check him out yourself!” he said. “Cobblepot knows where they’re keeping him. Ozzie says they’re got him in some sort of medically induced coma,” he said. 

She immediately recalled the file she had found when she started, and he could see her piecing it together. “The people of this city deserve to know the truth, don’t you think? They deserve to know that Harvey Dent…their White Knight is alive and well and that he’s not everything he’s cracked up to be.” The Joker looked solemnly into her eyes. 

“If you’re telling the truth,” she stammered, “then we have to do something. It’s wrong.” She rubbed her forehead. “That poor man!” He touched her shoulder, nodding. The touch sent a chill down her spine, but as that sensation traveled down, it became warm and went lower than she had thought it would. She shuddered and felt a tingle below.

“Yes….poor demented, sick, tortured Harvey “Two-Face” Dent. He oughta be set free. I mean, he is a hero for the city and they’re keeping him against his will here. We should help him Harley, but how?” he asked, softly trailing a finger down her back and to her waist.   
Her breathing became soft and faint and he whispered. “We have to get him out of here Harley. Free Dent, and we’ll free the city!” he whispered, leaning close.  
The buzzer sounded and the door opened. She shuffled away from him and he smiled up at her as she stood. “Til tomorrow, Doc!” he said.

***************************************

Dr. Leland wasn’t happy. Harleen was heading to check on The Penguin when she was met in the hallway by the older doctor. “You’re getting too close to him Harley,” she said to her. “I warned you!”

She walked along with her as she made her way to the other wing. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate what you’ve done. You’ve managed to get him to talk, which is more than I can say for anyone else here, including myself! But it’s not worth it if he takes advantaged of you and ends up hurting you or someone else because your guard was down.”

“I understand Dr. Leland,” she replied. “I’m sorry.” she pouted softly and the doctor nodded and left her to her next session.

In Penguin’s cell, it was a much different atmosphere than where she had just come from. Oswald Cobblepot had managed to secure himself with as much comfort as could possibly be bestowed upon him: A normal bed, a mounted television, several book shelves lined with his favorite pieces of literature as well as business, law, and science books. He sat in a large leather arm chair and motioned for her to sit on the small padded armchair across from him. “Dr. Quinnzelle, do come in and make yourself comfortable,” he said in his Cockney-like Otisburg accent. 

“How are you today Mr. Cobblepot?” she asked, taking a seat in the chair and crossing her legs. 

“I’m fine, thank you very much.” He replied. He leaned forward. “And I’d like to stay that way, so if you please, I’d like to skip talking about Mother for today if you don’t mind.” 

She nodded. “That’s perfectly fine Oswald. In fact, I have a topic in mind myself,” she said. “I’ve heard you know something about an inmate in this facility that they’re keeping sedated against his will and hidden from the world. A certain former district attorney?”

He grimaced. “And just where did you hear this Missy?” he growled.

“Oh you know, whispers in the wind,” she said. She leaned forward. “Is it true or not?”

“If I knew the answer to that question, or the whereabouts of such an inmate, that information wouldn’t come cheap,” he said.

She knew that there would be a price to pay when she decided to ask him, but she was nervous about what he was going to ask for. “I’m prepared to do what I can to make your life here easier than it already is if need be, but I’m not offering anything more than connections!” she said firmly.

He laughed. “My dear, asking you for sexual favors is the furthest thing from my mind. Besides, Joker’s already warned the lot of us that if anything happens to you, we’ll never see the light of day again, to say the least,” he informed her. 

She smiled before she could stop herself. He scoffed at the thought of her and her infatuation. “I want you to deliver something for me. I’ll give you all the information you want and in return, you get a message to the outside. No one will know but us, I assure you. I am, if anything, discreet in my transactions.”

“What kind of message?” she asked. 

“I want you to go to The Iceberg Lounge and pick up a briefcase from the manager, Butch. Take that to Mayor Hill. Don’t take it to his office. Bring it to his penthouse in the Diamond District and tell the doorman that Chesterfield sent you.” He explained.

She hesitated. She knew he wouldn’t tell her what it was about, and she had no way of knowing if she was about to deliver information, money or even an explosive device to the Mayor. But she couldn’t control herself. She tried to fight the desire to know what The Joker was hiding. She had to know if this was all true. “Ok, I’ll do it!”

He smiled. “Good girl,” he said. He folded his hands. “It’s true. Dent is here. He’s being kept in a secure wing with two guards stationed outside his room, and another three at posts outside that wing. You’re not getting in. Not even your credentials will get you past security. There are only two doctors in this entire place who know about it and the orderly I found out from hasn’t been seen in months, so obviously they’re willing to kill to keep this secret.”

She bit her lower lip thinking for a moment. “Well, we’ll have to see about that,” she said. 

**************************************************************  
After Harley delivered the briefcase to Mayor Hamilton Hill’s penthouse, she went home. She couldn’t get Joker or Dent out of her head. It took her hours and a couple shots of Vodka to finally get to sleep. She dreamed of Gotham being liberated. The people of Gotham seeing Harvey Dent on a stage platform vowing to take down the corruption and return the city to its ancient glory. From the audience she watched and applauded and she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist from behind her. She smiled leaning back into the arms and moving her head to the left, feeling a pair of lips kiss her neck. She looked up and realized it was The Joker. He touched her cheek and kissed her deeply and she felt herself kissing him back. Suddenly she woke, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily.


	4. A Mad Love Blooms

She couldn’t stop thinking about him. Over the past few weeks, she felt she had made so much progress with The Joker that she was proud of herself. They had shared stories about their childhoods and abusive fathers and she began to see him less as a patient and more as a friend. There had been some hiccups. For instance, when Eddie Burlow, the guard who had been harassing her was found in the maintenance closet, impaled with a broom. Part of her wanted to chalk that up to coincidence, but she knew better.

Despite all that, she was continuing to dream about him and was finding herself more and more infatuated with the idea of fixing him, and being fixed by him. There weren’t many people that knew about Harley’s past. But she had felt so comfortable with him, that when he asked about her secrets, they just came out.

She told him about the wood shed. She had snuck into her father’s wood shed in the back yard when she was 8 years old. He normally had it padlocked, but for some reason he had left in a hurry and must have forgotten to bolt it up. She poked around and found a truck full of pornographic magazines, the majority of which were BDSM themed. 

Only five years later, she would be caught giving a blow job to a neighborhood boy and punished by her father. He spent several hours binding her, spanking her, and finally raping her.  
This would continue to go on until she left for college. She was so desperate for it to stop, that she became a straight A student in the hopes that it would keep her from being punished.

In college, free of her father, she began to use her body and her sexuality to get things she wanted. She slept with boys who had money, fleecing them in the night. She teased, and sometimes flat out seduced professors if she found herself struggling in a class. And when she almost didn’t make the cut for the residency at Arkham, she used whatever means necessary to procure the coveted spot. 

All these shameful things she had done, feeling guilty and sick to her stomach the entire time, had made her feel like she was a bad person. But Mr. J saw the light in her. He kept telling her she had nothing to be ashamed of. That she was a beautiful powerful creature and that her urges were perfectly normal. He cared for her and she cared for him.

She had decided that she was going to be with him. She hadn’t thought about it seriously until she was leaving the Asylum one night. She had an amazing session with him that day. It was raw and mindblowing. There had been a point where he had grabbed her throat. Something she said had angered him but she didn’t feel fear when his hands clutched her skin. She felt alive, and she was full of lust after that. 

He apologized after the assault but she kept telling him that it was ok, and it was her fault. She shouldn’t have said what she said. She didn’t even remember what she had said, but she was both scared and in love. She wanted to get him out of that cage and let him back out in to the world. They would be together and she would show him how to live amongst societies and he would show her how to live wild and free.

***********************************************************************************************

Harley’s “success” with The Joker, had given her some leeway with him and their sessions. Instead of being locked up at a table in an interrogation type room, or watched by security at all times, they were able to have private sessions. There was a panic button that Harley had been instructed to press if anything was needed, but as long as he behaved, it would be the two of them, alone, in an examination room.

Since that had started, Harley had begun having daydream fantasies of having sex with him on the couch, the floor, the desk, everywhere they possibly could, but she had refrained from letting him know about her dark natured desires.

As they began, she took his hands. “I want to get you out of here Mr. J,” she said, looking into his eyes.

He raised a brow. “Really Harl? That’s dangerous you know. You’d risk losing everything you ever held dear if you helped me escape.”

She nodded. “You’re all that’s dear to me, and you’re rotting away in here doesn’t make me happy,” she said. She immediately realized what she had just said and he smiled. 

“Aww, Harley…you’re gonna make me blush!” he said. His voice was low and secretive. “I would be a fool to say no to a beautiful girl like you.” He ran his hand through her hair, gripping the back of her neck and pulling her close. 

Her breath was shallow and her eyes were wide. She was both terrified and turned on. She could feel his breath on her face. She couldn’t place what the smell of it was, but she liked it. He licked his teeth and pressed his nose to hers. 

“Tonight, before you leave, come back inside and tell the front desk you forgot your keys. Go down the hall and let Croc and Crane out of their cells. They’ll know what to do. It’s not about just breaking out Harley. We’ve got a job to do. We’ve got to free the minds of the people of Gotham!”

******************************************************************************************************************

He told her Penguin and Scarecrow would know what to do. But she couldn’t find the keys to their cells. “The night guard must have them!” she thought to herself. She poked around until she found him. A middle aged bearded man with a “Dad-bod” guard stood, conveniently, in front of Killer Croc’s cell door.

“Hi!” she said, startling him.

“Jesus up in heaven!” he exclaimed. “Dr. Quinnzelle! What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Sorry,” she said. “Didn’t mean to scare you,” She walked over and smiled at him. “I forgot my keys, but wow…he’s scary huh?” she looked into the cell at the large behemoth. Croc suffered from a severe case of atavism which left his face covered in scale-like skin. He had enhanced this look to make himself more reptilian giving himself filed down razor sharp teeth and claw like fingernails. He peered out at the two and suddenly smashed the plexi-glass. The guard spun back around and banged back on the glass. Croc looked over at Harley and nodded.

She knew what she had to do. She didn’t want to, but if she didn’t, she couldn’t get Mr. J and the others out. She balled up a fist and wound back, punching him hard in the back of the neck. He arched back in pain and she grabbed his head from behind. Croc snarled behind the glass as she snapped his neck swiftly.

As the body collapsed, she fell to her knees. She trembled slightly and stared at her hands. Suddenly Croc smashed the glass again, jolting her out of her daze and she hurried to get the keys off the guard. She found the right key and unlocked the door, stepping back slowly. Waylon Jones stepped out from his cell and sniffed the air. He looked down at her. “Thanks,” he said.

She laughed nervously, “Don’t mention it,” He reached down and grabbed the gun from his holster and handed it to her. She took it hesitantly. “Mr. J…Joker said you guys have a plan?”

They started walking down the hall towards Crane’s cell. “We’re getting out of here…all of us!” he hissed. “Go get the clown!. And don’t let anyone stop you,” he said.

She ran off, leaving him to free the others. When she got to The Joker’s cell, he was standing by the door, waiting anxiously. “Ah, there she is! My little Harlequin!” he cackled. 

“Croc’s free and he’s taking care of the others. He told me to come get you,” she said. She turned the key and he burst out of the door.

“Yes, I have plans for me and you angel cakes!” He grabbed her by the ass and pulled her against him. “Let me get a taste of freedom!” he demanded. She kissed him, sweetly at first, trying to savor the moment, but he was hungry and he couldn’t be patient. He kissed her roughly, forcing his tongue into her mouth and his hands grabbed at her ass cheeks. He broke the kiss suddenly, leaving her wanting more. “Damn that’s good! We’re gonna have some fun, you and me! But we’ll have to wait til later. We’ve got a former District Attorney, now demented, half cooked vegetable to wake up!”

She followed him as he made his way down the hallway.

*****************************************************************************************

When they reached the room, the others were waiting. Harley found herself surrounded by some of the scariest and ruthless criminals of Gotham. She should have been terrified, but standing behind Joker, she felt anything but. She got a rush of power and control. He watched the way they all looked at him and acted. He was like a King and these were his knights.. Croc, Crane, Hatter, Riddler, Ivy, Scarface and The Ventriloquist. They had all made a pitstop in storage and retrieved what was left of their belongings, mainly clothings, since everything else was deemed evidence and was being kept at GCPD lockup. 

Some of them had blood on them, including Croc’s claws and teeth. They had met with some resistance during the break out.

“Where’s Penguin?” Joker asked.

“He thought it better to play the good behavior card and try to get out early on the up and up,” Nygma said.

“Well what a party pooper!” Joker said. “He’s gonna miss the big exit!” 

“Why the hold up Joker? Let’s get out of here. Arnold is gonna piss his pants!” Croc said.

“Boys and girls, behind this door is my secret weapon. When Gotham sees that this man is still alive, they’ll know they can’t trust the Mayor or the Commissioner. They’ll be back to their hopeless, scared, desperate selves in no time.” He swung the door open and shot the nurse dead before she could stand up from her chair next to the bed.

“Ivy, you’re up,” he said as she walked over and began to make quick work of the medications keeping Dent asleep. “Croc, you and Scarface watch the halls. The guards should know what we’re up to by now.”

“What about me?” Harley asked, touching his hand. 

He touched her face. “My sweet Harley, you’re going to get us through the security gates, and if we need you to be, you’ll play our damsel in distress hostage,” he said as Crane came up from behind her and pulled her over to the door.

By the time the guards showed up, Ivy had finished reviving Dent. When he came to, he looked around, seeing the villains. “Where am I? What’s going on?”

“Harvey, I’d love to explain everything to you, but right now, we’re under fire. So grab a gun and fire because if you don’t, you’re going back to sleep.” He motioned to Riddler who handed Dent another gun picked off a guard.

“I shouldn’t be alive,” Dent said. “I should have been left to die! Why did they bring me here!”

“Tell ya what pal,” Joker said, walking over to him and grabbing his hand. “Flip for it if you gotta!” He slapped Dent’s double-sided coin and smiled a toothy grin.  
Dent flipped the coin and grinned. The exposed musculature of his face stretching over his exposed canine teeth. He glared. His socket less eye was expressionless but the other side of his face was full of anger, hate and resentment. “You’re lucky day clown!” he growled. 

Dent walked over to the door and started walking up the hallway. He fired a shot through the skull of a guard that showed his face around a corner. The group followed behind Dent, firing at guards left and right. Joker clutched Harley as he shot at guards over her shoulder. She could feel him grow hard against her as he killed. 

The group made their way down to the maintenance quarters and with Harley there to use her keycard on any door in the way, nothing stopped them from escaping the asylum and into the  
waiting van that Penguin’s men had provided for them. Penguin, himself, looked out at them driving away from his cell window and he smiled. He would be released for good behavior on this, and be able to rebuild his empire from the Iceberg Lounge. 

****************************************************************************************************************************

In a dark hideout, The Joker stood behind Harley. He ran his filthy hands over her bruised and lacerated back. It had been hours since they had been left alone at his new digs, and the infatuated Harley was getting more than she bargained for.

While she had attempted to have a romantic moment with him, hoping that it would lead to making love, Joker had let animal instincts loose on her. He had physically dragged her from floor, to counter, to table, to couch fucking her wherever he could find a position comfortable enough for him. 

Her whimpers and screams had turned him on more and more, and occasionally he would be soft and gentle enough for her to catch her breath. Now as he pounded into her from behind, she sobbed and smiled, watching herself get used in the reflection of a broken mirror. She couldn’t understand how she could be sad and in pain, and yet so happy at the same time. She watched his face. He was enjoying himself and she was pleased at that. 

In the background Summer Gleeson was reporting from Arkham Asylum. “It has been confirmed that Harvey Dent, who had been thought to be dead, was among the escapees who broke out of Arkham Asylum earlier tonight.”

“While the break out itself has left us with many questions, the big question is why did the Mayor and Commissioner Gordon lie to the people of Gotham City about what happened to Former District Attorney Harvey Dent?” she continued. 

“Ya hear that Harl?” Joker growled in her ear, leaning over her bruised and battered body and grinding all the way inside her. He bit her earlobe, tugging at it with his teeth, “it’s already beginning!” He leaned back and focused on the news as she pumped back at him, no longer needing to be told or forced, while her head spun everything went dark.

She breathed heavy as she felt herself climax against him while he laughed, engrossed in the news story. She smiled and giggled suddenly. This is what she was now. His. Forever. She would do anything for him, and she already had. She had killed for him. She had broken several dangerous criminals out of Arkham Asylum, setting them loose in the city and putting those within it in danger. And now she was cumming on his cock. The marks on her body were a symbol of all that she was willing to do.


	5. Agent of Chaos

“I do LOVE a party!” the Joker shouted out over the screaming crowd, standing above a terrified group of contributors below him. Around him, a dozen of clown-masked thugs waved their guns in the air shouting. 

Harley walked through the crowd in a tight black & red corset. She had spent hours crafting several outfits to wear that went along with her beloved’s motif. Her choice for tonight was slightly dominatrix in style with a mix of leather and lace, her hair in long braided ponytails, one black and one red.

“If you’ll all be so kind as to put your wallets, watches and jewels into the bags provided by my co-horts! After all, we’re all here to donate aren’t we? Well our organization just happens to run on charity and tonight, we’re got a message that’s gonna light a fire under the asses of the low and bring a message of hope to the people of Gotham.

The rich donors shakily filled the bags as the thugs weaved through the crowd. “Now, tonight, I want to talk about corruption! I wanna touch down at the root of it. Ya see, I did a little digging…didn’t want to come here unprepared. That would be in poor taste!” He reached down and jabbed a blade into a sausage sitting on plate and held it up, taking a sloppy bite out of the end. “Harley! Get the camera!” he said with a mouthful of food.

Harley rushed over and grabbed the cameraman from WGBS News who had been accompanying the reporter doing the story on the gala. She dragged him over and shoved him towards Joker. “There’s your newstory right here!” 

Joker smiled down at the cameraman. “All eyes on me please!” While some may think that Galaxy Communications would cut the feed, Harley and The Joker knew better. This was about to be the biggest ratings spike that WGBS has ever had. “Now, we’re joined tonight by some very powerful people.”

“Follow him buddy, or you’re gonna enter early retirement!” Harley whispered to the cameraman. 

Joker grabbed up an older man. “Joseph Powers, owner of the Powers hotel! From what I hear, there is a special turn down service offered by those cute little maids on the seventh floor! Is your percentage what we have to thank for your donation to our cause tonight?” He shoved him back down.

“Where else are you gonna find scum like Rupert Thorne, and Tobias Whale in the same room as people like Jonathan Wycliffe and businessman Simon Stagg?” 

He walked through, each person getting more and more nervous as he got closer. He suddenly grabbed up Mayor Hamilton Hill and dragged him to towards the center of the room. “Now here is a man, who this city thinks is the man who’s gonna change everything! The man voted by the people to stand up for them and fight against the injustices that haunt our fine municipality, but wait, the truth is, the people DIDN’T vote him in, did they Hammy?”

He reached into his coat and pulled out a large handgun. The crowd gasped and the camera followed him as he pushed Mayor Hill down to his knees. “Boys and Girls, Mayor Hill was a very naughty boy! You see, he didn’t have enough votes to win, so he enlisted the help of Mr. Thorne,” he explained, very matter-of-factly. 

“This man,” he said and raised his fingers to quote “ the ‘most powerful man in Gotham’ doesn’t represent the people, but the ‘alleged’ crime lords of Gotham”, he said quoting again. “But me, I’m a man of the people. A man FOR the people, and I’ve come to show the citizens of Gotham what it takes, to take your own city back!”

He turned toward the frightened Hill and smiled wide. Suddenly he raised the gun, and pulled the trigger, blowing the insides of Hill’s skull out the back, and causing an outbreak of panic amongst the crowd. The armed thugs hushed everyone and Harley stood in awe watching him perform for the camera. 

“Now, now…I know, it’s not easy to watch,” he began, pausing. “For SOME people,” he continued with a smirk. “But this is what I’m talking about people.” He looked into the camera. “If you want things to change, you’ve gotta do something about it. This city has one less corrupt politician. And it’s because I’m strong enough to pull the trigger,” he said.

He reached down and pulled Harley towards him, holding her against him and smiling at the camera. “I’ve unlocked the gate to let you all in, now join me and let’s take the city back from those who mean to control us!” He raised the gun and fired it into the camera, killing the cameraman.

He motioned to the men, pushing Harley away. As she followed she called after him, “But Mr. J, ain’t ya gonna kill the rest of these schmucks?” she asked, looking behind her at the chaos they had caused.

“We’ve done our part Harley. We’re done here,” he said. “What do you think we are? We’re psychopaths, not freedom fighters!”


	6. An Introspective Look

She hadn't been alone like this in months. She reached up and wiped the condensation off of the bathroom mirror. Her wet hair stuck to her face and her lips were pouty as she looked at the reflection of the bathroom in the mirror. It was a shithole. Most of the places they stayed were. They would force their way into some lowlife’s apartment, kill them or recruit them, and hole up for a few days.

Mr. J thought this was a good way to keep Gordon, or worse, The Batman off their trail. And he was right. But sometimes she wished for a nice large bath she could relax in, even better, share with him. She couldn’t even remember the last time she took a bath actually. She had either no choice but to shower, or had been in places where the tubs were too disgusting to contemplate bathing in.

As she stared at herself, she caught a glimpse of her former self. She felt stripped. She was naked, both figuratively and literally. She barely recognized her reflection, even without the make-up. She ran a dirty t-shirt through her hair, using it as a make-shift towel, patting her hair as dry as possible before tossing it back down to the cracked and grimy tiled floor.She took a deep breath, inhaling the stale air. The smell of body odor and food that had turned, lingered in the apartment. She hated The Narrows. She began to apply her makeup. In the mirror she watched as the broken little shell of Harlene Quinnzelle morphed into the spunky Harley Quinn.

Inside her mind, the voices began to converse. _Why are you with him? You’re a fool! You’ve done such awful things Harlene!_

**You were weak before him! Together you’re going to run this city! You were a scared little girl, and he’s made you into a woman!**

_How? By forcing himself inside you? And of course, only when he gets the what little, human nature based urges that are left in him. Or is it by degrading you and hitting you in front of his goons to exert his authority and power over you?_

**He’s complicated! So are you, that’s why you’re right for each other. Someday he’s going to open up to you and you’ll know all the things everyone in Gotham’s always wondered about him. But you’ll be the only one!**

_The only thing that’s going to get opened up is your head when he hits you too hard! You’re not his girlfriend Harley…you’re his plaything and when he’s done with you, he’ll physically break you to spite you._

**He loves me. He’s just had an awful life and doesn’t know any better.**

_You’re pathetic! You have so much potential and you’ve ruined it all. Do you think he’ll be able to outrun The Batman forever? And when he does, do you think you’ll just be able to smile and he’ll let you go? Do you think for one second that the Joker won’t let you get caught in order to get away? You’ve killed people Harley. You were bright and intelligent! First in your class! They thought you were a dumb blonde! What happened to that girl?_

_That girl is gonna show everyone! Batsy is never gonna catch us! That’s the whole point. You’ll see! Mr. J and I are gonna rule this city and anyone who ever doubted me or looked down on me, they’re gonna get what’s commin’ to them._

She pushed off of the small sink and turned, walking into the other room. There were large duffle bags, the kind soldiers used to transport weapons, strewn all over the place. Mr. J liked to be armed to the teeth. The Batman wasn’t his only dangerous enemy. She reached down and threw on a punk style t-shirt. It was small, just how the boys liked it. She slipped on a pair of sparkly two colored shorts. She had spent weeks creating different costumes to where. The Joker was a theatrical presence and he had explained, that like The Batman projects his image of dread, so too did he project an image. His look changed every now and then, but what remained the same, was the essence of madness and chaos.

Harley played to her own strength/weakness. Her psyche. The more time she spent with him, the more Harley’s mind began to split into two distinct pieces. Part of her still yearned to be normal, knowing that she was not making good choices. The other side, was falling deeper into darkness. And thus, she decided on the two toned look. Whether black and red, red and blue, blue and pink, or any other combination, the one thing that remained constant was the duo of colors. Joker had once joked that she was looking to get noticed by Dent, but little did he know that she really did it to remind herself that there was still another side to her. Harley Quinn wasn’t who she was completely, it was a part. No matter how far those two pieces of her psyche got from one another, they BOTH existed.

After a few minutes of getting ready, and another hour of waiting around to hear from him, Harley began to get frustrated. She sat on a tattered couch, sunken into its worn, spring-less cushions twirling a gun around her finger and humming Patsy Cline’s “Crazy”. Finally, she pushed herself up off the couch, holstered the gun, and grabbed her wooden mallet, walking out of the apartment. She was bored and she was going to look for fun. As she strutted down the hallway a grungy looking man stepped out of his apartment. His eyes widened as he saw her and he froze as she walked by him, giving him a smile. He leaned out of his apartment, watching her walk towards the stairwell, gazing at her ass. She felt his stare and turned to look back and he darted his head back inside, slamming the door.

On the street, she looked around. A couple of hobos and a few drug dealers were the only people she could see. She walked along the sidewalks, her heels echoing off the pavement. Any other woman would be terrified to be walking down a street like this in The Narrows all alone, this late at night; and if it weren’t her, they’d be right to feel that way, but people had learned who she was by now, and if anyone were to make a move against The Joker’s sidekick, it would be suicide.

She walked by a bar and peered inside. On the small television above the bar, the screen showed her where to find him. He was at the Gotham Museum of Fine Art. The cameras showed him and a few of the boys shooting up the place and Mr. J was cackling and making faces at the camera. She set off to find him, remembering the night of the gala where he had killed Mayor Hill. He had a way of taking a situation and setting fire to it, creating a blaze of chaos. He prided himself on being one of the first “super-villains” of Gotham, and loved when a new one popped up. And now here she was, tagging along with him, being molded into his own image. And while part of her reveled in it and longed for the abusive attention, the other part began to wonder if she should be out there trying to make a name for herself on her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to take a break from traditional story and take a moment to explore where Harley's at mentally. It's hard to think of why a girl would put herself in her current position, but this is part of her personal journey. I also put my own little twist one why Harley wears what she wears. Hopefully you as readers liked that part. To me it makes the most sense. I hope you all enjoy this. I really do welcome comments, even suggestions/requests.


	7. Planting Seeds

Harley giggled with delight as the explosion hit the far end of the old shoe factory where the Joker and his gang were hiding out this week. Crashing through the wall, the armored Batmobile came to a hault and the Dark Knight shot out like a dart, gliding down and kicking on of the thugs. Harley watched from the managers office overlooking the workfloor, leaning on the railing and smiling brightly as she watched Batman dismantle the gang piece by piece as they attacked from all sides. He looked up at her and grimaced as he smashed the last of the thugs down to the ground, knocking him out. 

"Where is he Harley?" he growled. He reached into his belt, pulling out a grappling hook and firing it into the rafters, soaring up onto the walkway where she stood. 

"Who Batsy? Santa Claus?" she asked innocently, backing away. "I think he's at the North Pole right about now?" she turned to run but he reached over and grabbed her by the shoulder, lifting her up by the collar of her shirt. She kicked and squirmed. She pointed behind him. "Jeez! He's right there!"

Batman gave her a glare, not falling for a trick as simple as that. But he felt a tap on his shoulder and he spun around. Harley used the chance to escape as Batman was kicked back by the Joker. He cackled. "You think she'd lie you Bats?"

"Get him puddin'!" she yelled out.

Joker swung and landed several fast and wild punches, before Batman caught his wrist, yanking him to the side. He reached behind as Harley went to attack and grabbed her by the collar once more, holding her back. In the action, Joker took the opportunity to get away by spraying Batman with his novelty flower. Batman dodged, but lost Joker in the scuffle. He growled as he rubbed his eyes. He scanned the room but the Joker was gone. He turned and glared at Harley. "Whatsa matta Bats? Your eyes look a little funny..."

He tightened his grip. "Well Harley, I'm just a little choked up," he said, dragging her back down to the Batmobile. "It's a pretty tender moment we're sharing. You're finally going to reunite with all your former co-workers at Arkham!" He shoved her in the back of the Batmobile's transport pod. She looked up at him with sudden terror as he slammed the door on her.

*******************************************************************************************************************************************************

Five months later, Harley sat in her cell, reading a book. From the hallway, a loud buzzing rang out, and the steel bar doors slammed open. "New female prisoner!" the guard called out. Harley's eyes widened and she sprang off her bed, rushing to the glass door that separated her from the outside. She pressed herself against the glass watching as four guards surrounded a pale woman in chains. Her fiery crimson red hair hung down to her shoulders and swayed slightly as she walked to her cell. The guards opened the door across from Harley and put her inside, uncuffing her carefully with guns drawn. The woman pouted and smirked as she watched them sheepishly back away and closed the cell door. "Crazy bitch," the guard muttered.

"Hey!" Harley yelled out. "Watch your mouth!" One of the guards scoffed and lashed out, slamming a billy club against the glass, causing her to jump back. "Jerks!" she muttered as they walked out of the area. She looked over at the woman who was looking at her surroundings. "Hey, I'm Harley, what's your name?"

She looked over. "Ivy. Charmed," she replied smiling. 

"Whatcha in for?" Harley asked.

"Eco-terrorism...apparently," Ivy replied. "And for being a metahuman," she added snarling. "And you're the one Joker sacrificed to escape from The Bat, right?" she asked.

Harley's face saddened. "He didn't give me up. He had to escape, otherwise we'd both be in here!" she rationalized. "He'll break me out!"

"Sure honey," Ivy said. "Whatever helps you sleep at night." She sat down on her bed, trying to get comfortable. 

"I mean it! My puddin' is just hatching a plan to break me out. And ya know what? I was thinking I'd break you out when he comes, but now I'm not gonna!" Harley whined.

"Oh no...I can't escape with the clown brigade!" Ivy muttered. "You know you're an idiot right?" she asked. "He doesn't love you sweetie. He uses you. You're a plaything. Something to amuse him," she said. "He's bored of you, so he let The Bat take you. He made his escape and I'd be willing to be he doesn't think twice about you honey. I'm sorry, but it's true."

Harley was tearing up hearing her go on and on. "He does too love me! You'll see!" she called out, going back to her bed and laying face down. "You're the idiot. Stupid new girl! What do you know anyway?" she muttered, turning over and facing the wall. 

"I know men....that's what I know," Ivy said quietly. "Maybe someday you'll see yourself for all you're actually worth, and not what that freak has made you believe you're worth," she called out.

Harley didn't say anything. She laid there with a tear rolling down her cheek, gritting her teeth.


	8. Busted Out and Broken Down

Arkham Island was lit up with flashing spot lights and the sound of alarm sirens. Harley cupped her ears in pain that the noise, squeezing her eyes shut as her head pounded. Suddenly a hand grabbed her wrist, yanking her forward. She opened her eyes as Ivy dragged her along. In front of her, Two-Face was leading the charge as several other inmates including herself, Ivy, Ventriloquist and Scarface followed, fighting their way against guards.

"This plan does have an endgame, right Harvey?" Ivy asked.

He grumbled. He pulled up a grate and pointed down. They looked at him with a questioning glare. "Just go!" he said. They hopped down one by one and escaped through the sewer system. 

As they weaved their way through the tunnels, Harley began conversing with herself. "He's gonna be so happy to see me. I'll need a shower of course, but we're gonna be together again. It'll be such a nice surprise," she said, smiling brightly in the darkness. 

"Harley, only you could be able to smile in a place like this!" Ivy said with a groan of disgust.

Two-Face snickered. "Are you talking about the Joker?" he asked. "That psycho clown left town weeks ago," he said.

"What do you mean 'left town'? Where'd he go?" Harley asked, tugging at Two-Face's good shoulder. 

He shrugged her off. "He's gone. He relocated. Last I heard, he was underground in Bludhaven, hosting some meta-human sideshow fight club. Another one of his masochistic power trip fantasies come to life," he said.

Harley pouted. "But he said he'd bust me out. He told me he...,"she started. 

"What? Loved you?" Ivy asked. "I told you Harl, he doesn't love anyone," she said. 

She went quiet. For the first time in her life, Harley was quiet and withdrawn as she followed the group to the outside world.

**************************************************************************************************************************  
Harley didn't know where to go once she was out. For the last two years, she had been beside The Joker and stayed where he stayed. Her old apartment had been rented out and her belonging donated or trashed. She had spent the last two months incarcerated at Arkham. She had nothing. Ivy knew this. "Why don't you stay a few days at my place until you figure things out," she had said. Harley nodded and spend several days at Ivy's hideout, a small studio apartment on the outskirts of Otisburg. 

Ivy's home life was much more laid back than her public image would lead one to believe. She had plants all over the place, but despite what everyone usually perceived her to live like, she was not a naturalist or hippie-type pot head. She lived like most others, with the exception that she refused to harm living organisms. Years of biological experiments, however, had left her with scars and the visible veins that pumped the poison inside her that she herself was immune to.

Ivy lived life at a much slower, relaxed pace than Harley was used to. Their everyday life as temporary roommates had become something like an episode of "The Odd Couple". Ivy had found herself growing fond of Harley though, and she tried to be as supportive as she could with her heartbreak. 

"You have to move on Harley. He isn't worth it. He abandoned you, but you're not alone. You can have friends. You're free of him now and you can live your life the way you want to live it," she told her.

"But life with Mr. J was all I ever knew. I don't know how to live without him," she said. She cried a lot at night, but the sadness began to change. It twisted into spite, and anger. Ivy was right. He abandoned her, and she was not going to just let him toss her away like a used up toy. Bludhaven wasn't too far, and she was going to show him that she wasn't to be toyed with. 

"Ivy," she said one morning. "How do you feel about joining me on a little road trip?" she asked with a bright smile.

Ivy raised an eyebrow. "Where to?" she asked. 

"Bludhaven," she said. "I thought maybe we could have a nice evening out, grab a bite and maybe take in a fight?"

"A fight?" she asked.

"Ya, an underground meta-human type fight," she said with a wink.


End file.
